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Teotihuacan ,〔 〕 also written ''Teotihuacán'' (Spanish ), was an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub valley of the Valley of Mexico, located in the State of Mexico northeast of modern-day Mexico City, known today as the site of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population estimated at 125,000 or more, 〔〔Millon, p. 18.〕 making it at least the sixth largest city in the world during its epoch.〔Millon, p. 17, who says it was the sixth largest city in the world in AD 600.〕 Apart from the pyramids, Teotihuacan is also anthropologically significant for its complex, multi-family residential compounds; the Avenue of the Dead; and the small portion of its vibrant murals that have been exceptionally well-preserved. Additionally, Teotihuacan exported fine obsidian tools that garnered high prestige and widespread utilization throughout Mesoamerica.〔Ancient Mexico and Central America〕 The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC, with major monuments continuously under construction until about AD 250.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/teot/hd_teot.htm )〕 The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD, but its major monuments were sacked and systematically burned around 550 AD. Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highlands around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population.〔 The term Teotihuacan (or Teotihuacano) is also used for the whole civilization and cultural complex associated with the site. Although it is a subject of debate whether Teotihuacan was the center of a state empire, its influence throughout Mesoamerica is well documented; evidence of Teotihuacano presence can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region. The later Aztecs saw these magnificent ruins and claimed a common ancestry with the teotihuacanos, modifying and adopting aspects of their culture. The ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is also a subject of debate. Possible candidates are the Nahua, Otomi, or Totonac ethnic groups. Scholars have also suggested that Teotihuacan was a multi-ethnic state. The city and the archaeological site are located in what is now the San Juan Teotihuacán municipality in the State of México, approximately (northeast ) of Mexico City. The site covers a total surface area of and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It is the most visited archaeological site in Mexico. ==Name== The name ''Teōtīhuacān'' was given by the Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs centuries after the fall of the city around 550 A.D. The term has been glossed as "birthplace of the gods", or "place where gods were born",〔Archaeology of Native North America by Dean R. Snow.〕 reflecting Nahua creation myths that were said to occur in Teotihuacan. Nahuatl scholar Thelma D. Sullivan interprets the name as "place of those who have the road of the gods."〔Millon (1993), p.34.〕 This is because the Aztecs believed that the gods created the universe at that site. The name is pronounced in Nahuatl, with the accent on the syllable ''wa''. By normal Nahuatl orthographic conventions, a written accent would not appear in that position. Both this pronunciation and (:te.otiwaˈkan) are used, and both spellings appear in this article. The original name of the city is unknown, but it appears in hieroglyphic texts from the Maya region as ''puh'', or "Place of Reeds".〔Mathews and Schele (1997, p.39)〕 This suggests that the Maya of the Classic period understood Teotihuacan as a Place of Reeds similar to other Postclassic Central Mexican settlements that took the name ''Tollan'', such as Tula-Hidalgo and Cholula. This naming convention led to much confusion in the early 20th century, as scholars debated whether Teotihuacan or Tula-Hidalgo was the Tollan described by 16th-century chronicles. It now seems clear that ''Tollan'' may be understood as a generic Nahua term applied to any large settlement. In the Mesoamerican concept of urbanism, ''Tollan'' and other language equivalents serve as a metaphor, linking the bundles of reeds and rushes that formed part of the lacustrine environment of the Valley of Mexico and the large gathering of people in a city.〔Miller and Taube (1993, p.170)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Teotihuacan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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